


The Long Way Home

by hedgehoggery



Category: Naruto
Genre: Awkwardness, Drinking, Drunken Confessions, M/M, Tenzo really can't hold his alcohol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 06:27:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15188795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hedgehoggery/pseuds/hedgehoggery
Summary: Kakashi hasn't been avoiding Tenzo. He swears. It's just by complete happenstance that he never sees him anymore, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the feelings he's still trying to deny. And Tenzo isn't not telling Kakashi he's in love with him, he just hasn't told him. It's totally different.Their friends, of course, see right through these obvious lies.And after everyone's had a bit too much to drink, well... maybe they can be convinced to talk.





	The Long Way Home

The cacophonous chorus of clinking glasses and chattering voices was always a welcome distraction for Kakashi, which is why he chose to go to the bar with Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai every week despite being a self-proclaimed anti-social misanthrope. And this week was no exception. He sat in the booth that the group had months ago claimed as “their booth” in his usual spot next to Gai, one leg hanging out into the aisle as if poised and ready to escape at any moment. 

“Kakashi, go get another round,” Asuma said. Kakashi almost laughed at loud.

“Do I look like a waitress to you? Go get your own beer,” he said. Asuma sighed and groaned, much more exaggerated than usual due most likely to the amount of alcohol they had already consumed. 

“Kakashi, just do it,” he slurred. “You’re on the aisle.  I’m not going to make Kurenai go. Just... okay!?” Kakashi looked around and sighed in defeat, suddenly questioning the logic of his preferred seat at the booth. He stood up, making a show of groaning and stretching to express his distaste at being forced to move. 

“Okay, old man,” Kurenai joked. “Should I wheel you to the bar in a wheelchair?” Kakashi shot her a look but chose not to say anything, as Asuma had a tendency to want to fight when he was drunk. Instead, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and lumbered over to the bar. 

“Hey, can I get four beers? Oh.” As soon as he had started ordering, a man next to him had spoken at the same moment. He turned to find a very familiar face looking back at him.

“Senpai!” Tenzo said. “Long time no see.” Kakashi felt his face get hot, then cold, then hot again. 

“Tenzo,” he said finally. “Fancy meeting you here.” 

“Not really,” Tenzo said. Kakashi noticed his cheeks were pink and his eyes a little watered, a dead giveaway that he was quite intoxicated. “I mean, all shinobi like to come here.” 

“Hmm,” was all Kakashi replied.

“Eight beers.” The bartender returned, impressively carrying four beer mugs in each hand. He placed them all on the counter and Kakashi took four of them.

“Well, see you around, Tenzo,” he said, walking back to the booth. He sat down and distributed the beers to his drinking companions before taking a giant sip of his own. He looked up to find all three of his friends staring at him wordlessly. “What?” he said.

“How’s Tenzo?” Asuma said. Kakashi couldn’t hold in a groan. 

“I don’t know,” he said. “Drunk.” 

“Whatever happened to you two?” Kurenai said. “You used to be such good friends. Now you barely talk. It’s kind of sad.” Kakashi shrugged.

“It’s complicated,” he muttered. He wasn’t  _ avoiding _ Tenzo, persay. At least, that’s what he told himself day in and day out as he took the long way home to his apartment just so he wouldn’t walk by Tenzo’s. And he wasn’t  _ not talking _ to him either. He just hadn’t talked to him in a while, by no fault of his own. Friends just grow apart sometimes. It’s only natural.

“Complexity is the spice of life!” Gai shouted suddenly, making everyone at the table jump. 

“I don’t think that’s the saying, Gai,” Kurenai said, shaking her head. Gai scratched his chin in confusion before shrugging and taking a large gulp of his beer. “Why’s it complicated, Kakashi?” Kurenai continued. “What happened?” 

“Nothing,” he replied, looking over his shoulder to search the bar for the subject of their conversation. He found him in a booth on the other side of the bar, gesticulating wildly at some argument or discussion with his drinking companions, whom Kakashi recognized as Genma, Raido, and Aoba. 

“~Nothing~,” Asuma repeated in a high-pitched voice that Kakashi assumed was a severely inaccurate imitation of his own. “You suck at lying, Kakashi,” he added in his normal voice.

“If Kakashi doesn’t wish to speak of it with us, let him be,” Gai said. 

“Thank you, Gai,” Kakashi said.

“After all, one has the right to keep the most intimate aspects of their life private,” Gai continued. “Love is a fickle beast, and can either be an ally or enemy of youth!” Kakashi covered his face in his hands and silently damned Gai to an eternity in hell.

“Love?!” Asuma yelled. “Holy shit, it all makes sense now. You’re avoiding him because you’re in love with him and you’re too chicken shit to do anything about it!” 

“You’re one to talk!” Kakashi hissed back, resorting to childish tactics in his slightly intoxicated state as a means to mask his embarrassment. Asuma laughed.

“I’m not avoiding anyone,” he slurred. This was true, Kakashi realized. Asuma spent all his spare time with Kurenai. 

“Just go talk to him,” Kurenai cooed. “I think you’ll be surprised by the result.” Kakashi sighed.

“That’s not a good idea,” he said. 

“Kakashi, just do it!” Asuma yelled. “You’re always so stubborn, geez!” 

“Fucking hell, fine!” Kakashi said. “If I go talk to him, will you stop bothering me?” 

“For now,” Asuma slurred. Kakashi sighed and stood up, feeling his stomach flutter at the realization of what he had gotten himself into. He briefly considered breaking into a sprint and running out of the bar before Asuma could stop him, but there were too many people in the bar and he would end up looking foolish. Resigned to his fate, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked towards Tenzo’s booth.

___

“Four beers, beers are for four!” Tenzo practically shouted as he returned to the booth. He set the beers on the table clumsily, sloshing quite a bit of beer out of the mugs and onto the table. “Oops.” Aoba reached out and took the beers before Tenzo could do anymore damage, distributing them to their other drinking buddies.

“Hey, Tenz, was that Hatake-san?” Raido said. 

“Maaaayyybe,” Tenzo said, struggling to sit back down in the booth without falling. Genma and Raido chuckled. 

“What were you two talking about?” Genma pressed, grinning. “Anything… interesting?” 

“Nope,” Tenzo said. “We weren’t talking at all.” 

“That’s too bad,” Genma said. “You two used to be close.” 

“Yeah, whatever happened to you two?” Aoba asked. “Why don’t you ever talk anymore?” Tenzo let out a ridiculously over exaggerated sigh.

“I don’t want to talk about Kaka-shi sen-paiiii,” he said, enuciating each syllable of the man’s name by tilting his head from side to side. His friends tried to hold back their laughter.

“Holy shit, Tenzo, you’re so fucking drunk,” Genma said. 

“I am not!” Tenzo tried to say, forgetting he had a mouthful of beer. It dribbled down his chin, causing his friends to finally burst out laughing. He wiped his face with his shirtsleeve. 

“Yes, you are,” Raido said. “So you should be willing to blab about your issues with Hatake-san.” Tenzo threw his hands in his air.

“You’re trying to take advantage of me cause I’m drunk!” he yelled, pointing a finger in Raido’s face.

“We absolutely are,” Genma confirmed. “So go on, talk.” Tenzo crossed his arms. 

“You’re going to be disappointed,” he said. “There’s nothing to talk about. We used to be friends, and then Senpai left ANBU so we didn’t see each other as much, and we drifted apart. It happens.” His friends looked at him with raised eyebrows.

“That was… surprisingly coherent,” Aoba said. 

“Yeah,” Raido added sadly. “And logical.” 

“No kidding,” Genma said, with a gleam in his eye. “And here I thought it was because you’ve been in love with him for your whole life.” Tenzo’s eyes widened comically.

“Shhhhh!!” he hushed, accidentally spitting all over Raido who was unlucky enough to be seated across from him. “Keep your voice down!” 

“Oh my god, you are,” Aoba said. “I owe Genma 100 ryo.” Genma turned and gave Raido a high five. Tenzo groaned and laid his head on the table, suddenly realizing he had given away his secret. 

“How come you never told him, Tenz?” Raido asked. Tenzo shrugged.

“He’s Hatake Kakashi,” he said. His drinking companions all nodded in understanding, which only made Tenzo feel worse. He had wrestled with the idea of confessing his love to his senpai for years. At first, he told himself that he was keeping it a secret because Kakashi was his ANBU captain and it would be inappropriate. Then Kakashi left ANBU, and Tenzo told himself he wasn’t keeping it  _ secret _ , so much as he just wasn’t acting on it. He was too busy. Kakashi was too busy. Life got in the way. That was all. Then they started drifting apart. He hardly ever saw Kakashi anymore, save for from a distance, and they didn’t talk like they used to. “It doesn’t matter anyway,” he muttered, closing his eyes. He felt Aoba pat him comfortingly on the back.

“Sorry, Tenz,” he said. “That really sucks.” 

Suddenly Tenzo felt the air at his table shift noticeably, but he was too drunk to figure out why or to lift his head and open his eyes.

“Guys, what’s wrong - “

“Good evening, Hatake-san,” Raido said pointedly, kicking Tenzo in the shin. Tenzo sat up too quickly, causing the world to spin dangerously around him. He felt a hand on his shoulder to keep him upright and looked over to see Kakashi standing next to him, propping him up. 

“Aaaaeeehhh!” he squealed. Genma and Raido shook their heads and Aoba actually covered his whole face in his hands at embarrassment for their friend.

“Tenzo,” Kakashi said. “You seem... extremely drunk.” Tenzo scoffed and puffed up his chest.

“I’m drot nunk,” he said confidently. “Nok drunt. Dru… not drunk. There! I’m not drunk.” Kakashi stared at him skeptically. 

“Honestly guys,” he said to Tenzo’s friends. “I’m really disappointed you wouldn’t take better care of your friend. This is ridiculous.”

“Sorry, Hatake-san,” Raido said. 

“Come on, Tenzo,” Kakashi said. “I’ll take you home.” He pulled Tenzo up to standing, catching him in his arms as he swayed enough to almost tip over. 

“Bye, guys,” Tenzo said to the table. He held his hand to the side of his mouth as if to block the sound from Kakashi. “Senpai is going to take me home, if you know what I mean.” He had intended to whisper it, but had said it at a very audible volume. He winked at his friends, who just shook their heads. 

“Let’s go,” Kakashi said, ignoring Tenzo’s comment and pulling him towards the door. 

___

Tenzo’s apartment was relatively close to the bar, for which Kakashi was grateful. Tenzo was hardly capable of standing, let alone walking, and Kakashi practically dragged him home. Finally, they reached the apartment. Tenzo formed a wooden key from his finger and unlocked the door, stumbling inside. Now that they were out of view of any potential prying eyes, Kakashi picked Tenzo up in a bridal carry and carried him to his bed. He gingerly placed him on top of the sheets and removed his shoes.

Kakashi looked down upon the already sleeping man and shook his head. Despite avoiding him for months and arguing with Asuma about talking to him, Kakashi couldn’t deny that he felt a huge weight of disappointment at having lost the chance to talk to him again. But maybe that was the universe’s way of telling Kakashi he was right to steer clear of Tenzo this whole time. Sighing, Kakashi turned to leave.

“Thanks, senpai,” Tenzo mumbled sleepily. “You don’t have to be such a stranger, you know. I miss you.”

Kakashi stopped short in the doorway and turned back around. Tenzo missed him? Kakashi felt a confusing mix of emotions start to bubble in his chest. He had been so focused on his own pain that he had completely neglected to consider how Tenzo might feel about their deteriorating friendship. And if he missed Kakashi, maybe things weren’t as grim as he had thought. 

“Good night, Tenzo.” 

“G’night, ‘Kashi.” 

Kakashi left the apartment and walked back to his own, deciding to come by the next day and help Tenzo recover from his impending hangover. And after that, well… maybe he’d start taking the short way home every day. 


End file.
